KARACHI: Top seed Tayyab Aslam and fifth seed Ammad Fareed chalked up contrasting victories over their opponents to make it to the title clash in the $15,000 12th DG Rangers Sindh National Squash Championship at the Sindh Rangers Jahangir Khan Squash Complex on Friday.

Aslam proved too good for third seed Ahsan Ayaz registering 11-6, 11-8, 11-2 victory in half-an-hour, 31-minutes to be precise, while Fareed was extended to four games by Zahir Shah before returning 11-1, 11-9, 7-11, 11-7 victorious in 33-minutes on the penultimate day.

Unseeded Rushana Mehboob and sixth seed Moqaddas Ashraf propelled into the women’s final recording victories over better opponents in the two semi-finals.

Rushana handed 9-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-5 defeat on eighth seed Koma Khan while Moqaddas gets the better of fifth seed Saima Shoukat 11-1, 4-11, 11-6, 11-6.

With the exception of second game, Pakistan No 1 Aslam enjoyed complete edge over Ayaz in the first and third games. However, he had a tough time in the second but survived of being extended.

Aslam, who finished runner-up in the $18,000 men’s DHA Cup last month and in the best nick, look poised to win third title of the year at home after winning Pakistan Circuit 3 in July and Feleties

Hotel International Championship in Oct.

“Almost all top players of the country are equal when it comes to performance and ups and downs are part of the game,” Aslam told Dawn at the venue on Friday.

Asked about his future commitments he said he look forward to competing in the World Squash Championship at Chicago in Feb-March next.

Results

Semi-finals:

Men’s:

Tayyab Aslam (SNGPL) bt Ahsan Ayaz (PIA)11-6, 11-8, 11-2; Ammad Fareed (SNGPL) bt Zahir Shah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 11-1, 11-9, 7-11, 11-7.

Women’s:

Rushana Mehboob (ZTBL) bt Komal Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 9-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-5; Moqaddas Ashraf (WAPDA) bt Saima Shoukat (WAPDA) 11-1, 4-11, 11-6, 11-6.

Saturday’s fixtures:

Finals:

Women’s: Moqaddas Ashraf vs Rushana Mehboob at 2pm.

Men’s: TayyabAslam vs Ammad Fareed at 3.45pm.

Published in Dawn, December 29th, 2018